Abstract: The human gut microbiome is the ecosystem of microorganisms that live in the human digestive system. Several studies have related gut microbiome variants to metabolic, immune and nervous system disorders. Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder considered the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability and the leading monogenetic cause of autism. The role of the gut microbiome in FXS remains largely unexplored. Here, we report the results of a gut microbiome analysis using a FXS mouse model and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. We identified alterations in the fmr1 KO2 gut microbiome associated with different bacterial species, including those in the genera Akkermansia, Sutterella, Allobaculum, Bifidobacterium, Odoribacter, Turicibacter, Flexispira, Bacteroides, and Oscillospira. Several gut bacterial metabolic pathways were significantly altered in fmr1 KO2 mice, including menaquinone degradation, catechol degradation, vitamin B6 biosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis, and nucleotide metabolism. Several of these metabolic pathways, including catechol degradation, nucleotide metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis, were previously reported to be altered in children and adults with autism. The present study reports a potential association of the gut microbiome with FXS, thereby opening new possibilities for exploring reliable treatments and non-invasive biomarkers.

Abstract: Urban residual flows contain significant amounts of valuable nutrients, which, if recovered, could serve as input for the own city needs or those of its immediate surroundings. In this study, the possibilities for decentralized recovery of nutrient rich residual flows in Santiago, Chile, are studied by means of a case study considering technical and socio-economic criteria. In particular, we calculate circularity indicators for organic matter (OM), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) and cost-benefits of household and community on-site technological alternatives. Kitchen waste (KW) and garden residues (GR) as well as urine were considered as system inputs whereas urban agriculture, municipality green, or peri-urban agriculture were the considered destinations for nutrients recovered. The technologies studied were anaerobic digestion, vermicomposting, and composting, while urine storage and struvite precipitation were considered for nutrient recovery from urine. Material flow analysis was used to visualize the inputs and outputs of the baseline situation (the traditional urban waste management system), and of the different household and municipality resource recovery scenarios (the decentralized valorization systems). Our findings show that decentralized valorization of KW and GR are a clear win-win policy, since they can not only produce important environmental benefits for the city in the long run, but also important cost savings considering the landfill fees and residues transportation of the current centralized waste management system.

Abstract: Phenotypic adaptation to environmental fluctuations frequently occurs by preexisting plasticity and its role as a major component of variation in physiological diversity is being widely recognized. Few studies have considered the change in phenotypic flexibility among geographic populations in marine calcifiers to ocean acidification projections, despite the fact that this type of study provides understanding about how the organism may respond to this chemical change in the ocean. We examined the geographic variation in CO2 seawater concentrations in the phenotype and in the reaction norm of physiological traits using a laboratory mesocosm approach with short-term acclimation in two contrasting populations (Antofagasta and Calfuco) of the intertidal snail Concholepas concholepas. Our results show that elevated pCO(2) conditions increase standard metabolic rates in both populations of the snail juveniles, likely due to the higher energy cost of homeostasis. juveniles of C concholepas in the Calfuco (southern) population showed a lower increment of metabolic rate in high-pCO(2) environments concordant with a lesser gene expression of a heat shock protein with respect to the Antofagasta (northern) population. Combined these results indicate a negative effect of ocean acidification on whole-organism functioning of C. concholepas. Finally, the significant Population x pCO(2) level interaction in both studied traits indicates that there is variation between populations in response to high-pCO(2) conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Geographically widespread species must cope with environmental differences between habitats. Information concerning geographic variations in response to climate variability is critical because many morphological, life history and physiological traits show variation across space. Reciprocal transplant experiments have shown to be relevant to evaluate the role of phenotypic plasticity and potential local adaptation in ecophysiological responses when coping with environmental variability. In this study, we characterize through reciprocal transplant experiments the reaction norms of morphological, biochemical, physiological and life-history traits between two intertidal populations of the socioeconomically important mussel Mytilus chilensis, inhabiting contrasting local environments (estuarine vs coastal habitats). We found a gradient in phenotypic plasticity with plastic trait responses in metabolic, ingestion and clearance rates, and in HsP(70) gene expression, and some traits with responses more canalized as growth and calcification rates. This emphasizes that responses not only vary across different local populations but also in different traits in M. chilensis, thus it is difficult to establish an overall trend of the responses at integrated organismal level. Moreover, the synergistic interaction of factors such as salinity and carbonate system parameters evaluated make it necessary to study the response at the population level with emphasis on benthic species important in aquaculture. Finally, field studies such as this one are useful for documenting the patterns of traits variation that occur in nature, identifying possible causes of such variation, and generating testable hypotheses for future controlled experiments. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Environmental gradients play an important role in shaping geographic variability in coastal marine populations. Thus, the ability of organisms to cope with these changes will depend on their potential to acclimatize, or adapt, to these new environmental conditions. We investigated the spatial variability in biological responses shown by Perumytilus purpuratus mussels collected from 2 intertidal areas experiencing contrasting freshwater input influences (river-influenced vs. marine conditions). To highlight the role of plasticity and adaptive potential in biological responses, we performed a reciprocal-transplant experiment and measured relevant phenotypic traits including mortality, growth, calcification, metabolism, and chemical composition of the shell periostra cum. We determined that mussels exposed to river-influenced conditions had increased metabolic rates and reduced growth rates, as compared to mussels experiencing marine conditions (p < 0.05). While the energy investment strategies of the 2 local populations resulted in similar net calcification rates, these rates decreased significantly when mussels were transplanted to the river-influenced site. Stressful conditions at the river-influenced site were evidenced by decreased survivorship across treatments. Freshwater inputs modify the organic composition of the shell periostracum through a significant reduction in polysaccharides. Although our field experiment did not identify specific environmental factors underlying these contrasting phenotypic changes, the results imply that plasticity plays a strong role when P. purpuratus is exposed to some combination of natural (e.g. salinity) and anthropogenic influences (e.g. pollution), and that the lack of exposure to freshwater may promote less tolerant mussels with greater potential for local adaptation.

Abstract: Adaptive phenotypic plasticity, has been recognized as an important strategy by which organisms maximize fitness in variable environments, which vary through development. A disassociation among stages should represent a null effect of the environment experienced during early ontogeny in the expression of adult traits. Food quality greatly influences survival, development and reproduction in many arthropod herbivores. We examined the effects of diet protein in physiological and life-history traits in the yellow mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor through ontogeny. We established four experimental treatments: Low Protein (LP), Low Protein Control (LPC), High Protein (HP), and High Protein Control (HPC) with recently eclosioned larvae each. Individuals were maintained on the same diet or transferred to the opposite diet for all pupae period and almost all adult period. Contrary to the expected, the duration of life-cycle, larval growth rate and body mass in T molitor were similar in diet treatments. We found intra-individual trade-offs between environmental diet (rich or poor in protein content) during larval phase and egg number. Larvae fed on a protein-deficient diet exhibited significantly higher respiratory rates than larvae fed on a rich protein diet. Compensatory feeding could act in T molitor larvae indicating differences in metabolism but not in growth rate, body mass and life-cycle characteristics. Our results demonstrate the plasticity of reproductive and metabolic traits and life-cycle characteristics of T molitor and how changes that occur in relation to diet can have profound effects on progeny and female fitness.